Obituaries

Ethelena Zegler

Photo of Ethelena Zegler
Beloved mother, grandmother and golfer Kiki Zegler, 81, of Granbury, Texas has died after a long period of decline following a stroke on the 19th hole in 2001. Always a fun-loving and dynamic person, she remained the life of the party until the very end, never losing her sassy sense of humor or her appetite for the good life—and good food—despite her failing health. Kiki was born a long way from the fairway, in Lost Cane, Arkansas on August 22, 1929, to parents A.C. and Artie Owens. She was the fourth of seven children: Leroy, Mildred, Laverne, Vance, Max and Gracie. Her life actually began more in the "rough" of the cotton fields of rural Arkansas, where she toiled with her siblings each fall. After graduating from Blytheville High School, Kiki married Ted Wahl in 1947 and secured a position at Sears and Roebuck, where she remained employed for the next twenty-two years. During that time, the couple was blessed with two daughters, Sandra Lynn and Linda Sonya, before Ted's untimely death in 1968. Happily, Kiki found a second chance at love, and in 1972, she married Joe Zegler. The couple moved to Little Rock, where Kiki's third love—golf—soon blossomed. For the next two-and-a-half decades, the place to find Kiki was on the course or in the clubhouse, where she served as secretary of various ladies' golf associations and scored an astonishing four holes-in-one. As proud as Kiki was of those four trophies, they didn't hold a candle to her six cherished grandsons and their partners, Mike Rucker and John Beardsley, Wesley and Kristen Lambert, Ben and Lauren Lambert, Alex and Beth Lambert, Dustin and Tonya Owen, Zech McGhee, and her three great-grandsons, Grayson Owen, Kenton Lambert and Cole Lambert. A devoted grandmother, Kiki played a substantial role in the lives of her grandkids. Kiki, along with son-in-law Perk Lambert and the rest of the family, lost Linda in 1989. In 1995, finding herself once again widowed, Kiki moved to Texas to be closer to her daughter, Sandy, and son-in-law, Grady Owen. She will be missed by many but is blessedly now in the company of the many loved ones who have gone before her. Services will take place at Moore's Cabot Funeral Home on Wednesday, December 8 at 11 a.m. Interment will follow at Mount Carmel Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Moore's Cabot Funeral Home (501) 843-5816. Please sign the online guestbook at www.moorescabotfuneralhome.com.

Published December 7, 2010

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